Over the last 30 years the skateboarding industry has exploded to the point that can not be ignored. Does the name Tony Hawk ring a bell? I’m sure it does and the reason is that our culture has latched onto the world of skateboarding.

With this rise a new commercial niche was being formed around a subculture that identified it’s self as something different. Kids began to find an identity in this new world and began equipping themselves with the latest skateboarding goods and gear. No longer were they products of society, they were now individuals.

The dynamic of commercializing skateboarding goods has proven to be a tricky one for the power house retailers. The audience that these big wig sellers were use to selling to was the exact opposite of what the skateboarding community valued.

This opened the door for grass root skateboard companies to rise out of no where and become market leaders. These companies are fueled by a love not by profit and have provided an industry with merchandise or real value.

The trouble now has become filtering out the junk large companies are stuffing down out throats and finding core skateboard shops that sell the decks, wheels, and clothes that are truly worth buying.